A year round job Farming is an all year round job, and whilst some of us might be leafing through holiday brochures, kitting out the camper van for an escape to the coast, or simply putting our feet up in the garden, farmers will be as busy as always in the summer months. Here areContinue reading “Livestock Farming in Summer; a look at a few of the many jobs a livestock farmer has to do in the summer months”
Author Archives: Northwest nature and history
Swifts, a poem
The Swifts they are a-soaring,Very very high,Competing for the insects,Far up in the sky,Screaming and a-fighting,In the evening lighting,I wonder if what they seek to eat,If it tastes sour or if it’s sweet,Or if they care because they are,Simply creatures of pure air,One day they’ll all fly home,They simply don’t have the time to roam,TheyContinue reading “Swifts, a poem”
Hayrattle in Bowland
The Forest of Bowland has several SSSI’s or Sites of Special Scientific Interest within its bounds and most of these are of interest to botanists for the rare native plants they harbour. One of these is the Hay Rattle, Rhinanthus minor, also know as the yellow rattle or cockscomb. The plant gets its name fromContinue reading “Hayrattle in Bowland”
Honeybee Swarms
Bee Swarming The period from May to July can be the hottest time of year and is often the hotspot for beekeepers being called out to deal with swarms of honeybees, which can occur almost anywhere in seemingly random places. Very often the ‘swarm’ will turn out to be a Wasp nest, which can beContinue reading “Honeybee Swarms”
The Pennine Tower at Forton Services
If you’ve ever driven along the stretch of the M6 which passes the Forest of Bowland between the cities of Lancaster and Preston you can’t have failed to notice the unique hexagonal Pennine tower at Forton services and you’ve probably wondered what it is. Now a grade two listed building it was opened in 1965Continue reading “The Pennine Tower at Forton Services”
Natterer’s Bat
The Natterer’s Bat, Myotis nattereri, named after the Austrian naturalist Johann Natterer is a medium sized species found throughout the British isles. Appearance, flight and echolocation They have light brown fur on their upperbody and pale white fur underneath and their face, which is long and pink, has little fur covering. Their ears are longContinue reading “Natterer’s Bat”
The Brimstone Butterfly
The Brimstone Butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni, is one of our largest butterflies and quite often the first to be seen as it languidly flaps across the landscape after emerging from its winter hibernation. It is thought to be the original butterfly after which the common name for this type of insect came from, as its wingsContinue reading “The Brimstone Butterfly”
The Great Spotted Woodpecker
The Great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopus major, dendrocopus being Latin for ‘tree striker’, is the most frequently seen of the four species of woodpecker native to the British isles. It is rapidly becoming the most common too as it’s range has spread to areas it was previously rare, including Scotland and Ireland, where they became absentContinue reading “The Great Spotted Woodpecker”
Northwest Nature and History 